Union Investment
Union Investment (formally known as "Union Asset Management Holding AG) is the investment company of the DZ BANK Group and part of the cooperative financial services network. The distribution of public funds is done for one of the 1200 Population and banks (including Sparda-Banks , PSD-banks , etc.) and the other on the field of Schwäbisch Hall AG . The Union Investment Group is owned by the cooperative banking group. Shareholders are the DZ BANK, the WGZ BANK, the R + V Versicherun , Banque Fédérale des Banques Populaires and the people and banks for their participation Holdings and associations. The Union indicated that investment managed by a property about 165 billion euros (assets under management of '31.12.2009). Under the umbrella of the Union Asset Management Holding AG, a number of operating subsidiaries are summarized as: Basic knowladge The Union Investment Group, based in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, was founded in 1956, and is today one of Europe’s leading asset managers for private and institutional clients. Union Investment offers a wide range of investment solutions in various asset classes and investment styles: equity, fixed income, money market, alternative investments and quantitative structured funds. Firmly rooted in German home market, it has also grown into a leading international asset manager through subsidiaries and strategic partnerships. Its retail funds are licensed for sale in many European countries, and have won a number of coveted awards. Around 4 million customers are invested in Union Investment retail funds and are benefiting from our extensive range of services. Its sophisticated institutional client base includes banks, pension funds, insurance companies, church organizations, industrial corporations and non-profit organizations such as foundations and trade associations. With clearly defined and consistent investment strategies, we pursue the investment objectives of our institutional investors rigorously and successfully. Corporate history 1956 Formation of Union Investment-Gesellschaft mbH The idea of private bankers Robert Hentsch, Friedrich Hengst and Heinrich Becker, member of the board of the oldest German central cooperative society, becomes reality: on 26 January 1956, 16 banks form Union-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH, making it the third-largest German investment company. Union-Investment-Gesellschaft consists of a circle of domestic and foreign banks and bankers, combining the experience, market significance and expertise of the cooperative FinanzVerbund with the distinguished record of domestic and foreign private banks. On 12 April, with UniFonds, the fund of German quality equities, the organization opens its first fund. With a low denomination of DM 50, UniFonds establishes the trend of low denominations which is to continue. 1961 Union Investment is the first German company to introduce a discount on re-investment. In addition, UniFonds is the first German security to be listed on the Belgian stock market. 1965 The fund management company is formed in Hamburg under the name co op Immobilienfonds Verwaltung AG. The shareholders are initially the central institutions of the consumer cooperatives and the BfG (Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft). In 1987, the shareholding ratios are re-arranged and henceforth DIFA (Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG) is a full member of the cooperative FinanzVerbund. 1966 In 1966, DIFA is the first general fund to launch the Open Property Fund DIFA-Fonds Nr. 1 under the name co op Immobilienfonds. 1967 Union Investment enters the custody business, with the introduction of investment portfolios, investment and payment plans. 1968 The first bond fund: UniRenta 1969 After over thirteen years, Union Investment's fund assets under management for the first time top the one-billion-DM mark. 1970 The specialized fund company DEVIF Deutsche Gesellschaft für Investment-Fonds GmbH is formed in Frankfurt. 1974 UniFonds is the first German investment fund tob e floated on the Japanese stock exchange. 1985 With DIFA-GRUND, DIFA launches a further Open Property Fund 1986 With UniKapital, Union Investment opens its first bond fund with short-dated issues. In addition, initial cooperation is commenced with selling partners for the purpose of launching special institutional and insurance funds. 1988 From a single company to the Union Investment Group: Union Investment Luxembourg S.A. is formed. There then follows UniLux (now UniEuropaRenta), the Luxembourg Union fund. The fund assets managed by Union Investment for the first time exceed DM 10 billion. 1990 UniCash represents the launch of Union Investment‘s first near-money-market fund. 1991 With DIFA-GRUND, DIFA launches a further Open Property Fund. With Uni91/93, Uni91/94, Uni91/97 and Uni91/98, Union Investment launches its first maturity funds. DVD Gesellschaft für Datenverarbeitungs-Dienstleistungen (now Union IT-Services-Gesellschaft mbH) is formed. 1992 Union Investment EuroMarketing S.A. is formed in Luxembourg. With UniBond "L", for the first time the Group offers a long-dated-issue fund. In addition, German and Luxembourg Union funds can be held in safe custody in Union Investment EuroMarketing S.A.'s Union*EuroDepot. The Union Investment Group now has fund assets of DM 20 billion under management. 1994 In April, Union Investment launches POINT, a unit-linked asset management strategy with three different versions: opportunity, growth and security. In September, Union Investment becomes the first investment company in Germany to launch a money-market fund (UnionGeldmarktFonds). EuroAction Management S.A., a Luxembourg fund management company, is established in partnership with Groupe Banque Populaire, the French cooperative banking group. 1995 UNICO Asset Management S.A. (previously UNICO INVESTMENT FUND MANAGEMENT COMPANY S.A.) and UNICO Financial Services S.A. are integrated into the Union Investment Group. The first foreign-currency fund is launched: the money-market fund UniMoneyMarket: USD. The Zurich establishment of Union Investment EuroMarketing S.A. (now Union Investment (Schweiz) AG) offers the UnionSchweizDepot. 1996 Two questions – "Is my objective to save or to invest?" and "Is my time horizon three to six years or more than six years?" - will always find the ideal fund. This is the premise of the Quattro concept that focuses on investors with no experience of securities, and which was overhauled in 2000. Regular savers, saving to buy a car for example, should select QuattroZielsparFonds -net-, while QuattroVermögensFonds is tailor-made for investors who want to invest their savings for a period of more than six years. OptiPlana, a unit-linked life insurance policy structured in conjunction with the R+V insurance group, is another new product. 1997 With UniDynamicFonds: Europa, Union Investment launches its fund family comprising growth stocks. 1998 Union Investment and Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall jointly develop 3P, a combined product that benefits from all the government subsidies available for employer-funded savings schemes. GenoAS: 1, one of the first pension funds, is also launched. Inception of the UniNeueMärkte fund that invests exclusively in new markets around the world. 1999 Union Investment rises to the rank of number three in the industry; the first mixed securities and property fund; eight sectoral funds on offer; formation of Union-Fonds-Holding AG. In June, Union Investment is the first German investment company to launch a mixed securities and property fund, GenoEuroClassic. In July there follows the first fund with high-coupon bonds, and then in October, with the UniSector family, eight sectoral funds. Union-Fonds-Holding Aktiengesellschaft is also formed. Union-Fonds-Holding Aktiengesellschaft is now at the head of Union Investment, and has the task of managing subsidiary companies and coordinating individual investment holdings. At the end of 1999, Union Investment moves to number three in the industry, and assets under management exceed DM 100 billion. In addition, the Zurich establishment of Union EuroMarketing S.A. changes its name to Union Investment (Schweiz) AG. 2000 Since March 2000, Union Investment has offered a family of umbrella funds which now comprises four strategies: from conservative, through balanced and dynamic, to offensive. In the middle of the year, the shareholders of Union-Fonds-Holding AG and of DEVIF and DIFA resolve to bundle the asset-management units of the cooperative alliance under the umbrella of Union-Fonds-Holding AG by the end of 2001: DEVIF as a provider for specialized securities fund companies, DIFA as a property fund company, and Union Investment as a general fund company for securities. 2001 In March 2001, Union Investment expands its sectoral range by offering two new funds with top-quality securities: UniValueFonds: Europa and UniValueFonds: Global. In December, DEFO Deutsche Fonds für Immobilienvermögen GmbH joins the Group, servicing institutional mandates in the specialized property fund business. In December, the Union Investment Group's Riester product - UniProfiRente – is given the Riester Certificate. 2002 At the start of the year, Union launches the exclusive fund-asset management SwissRubinum, administered by the new Swiss subsidiary Union Investment Privatbank AG in Zurich and managed jointly with Julius Baer. In January 2002, Union-Investment-Gesellschaft mbH changes its name to Union Investment Privatfonds GmbH, and DEVIF Deutsche Gesellschaft für Investment-Fonds GmbH changes to Union Investment Institutional GmbH. The holding organization of the Group, Union-Fonds-Holding AG, changes its name in July 2002 to Union Asset Management Holding AG. From November, Union PanAgora Asset Management GmbH (formerly DG PanAgora Asset Management GmbH) forms part of Union Investment. 2003 In May 2003, Union Alternative Assets GmbH is formed. The new company bundles the expertise of the cooperative FinanzVerbund in the realm of alternative investment strategies. The number of customers who have invested their assets in the UnionDepot is now 4 million. In the general-fund business, in 2003 Union Investment is again the investment group with the highest sales. For the third time in succession, private investors entrust more new money to Union Investment than any other German fund company. 2004 Number one in fund sales, ranked number two among German fund companies in the Feri Trust investment-company ratings, number three according to Capital's star ranking, and with excellent ratings from Standard & Poor's … experts have nothing but praise for Union Investment's management, service and investment process. 2006 50 years of Union Investment. Investing in the future together - this was Union Investment's slogan as it celebrated its first 50 years. Union Investment was saying thank you for half a century of trust, growth and success. But most of all, for 50 years of working in close professional partnership with its customers and the companies in the cooperative financial services network. In its anniversary year, Union Investment launches the nationwide "Emma the sheep" campaign to promote German personal pension products. There was a boom in Riester private pensions and in 2006, Union Investment signed up around 600,000 new UniProfiRente fund clients, taking the total above the one million mark, and making Union Investment the market leader in fund-based Riester savings products. 2007 Expansion into Asia: A joint venture with The Bank of East Asia, one of the leading private banks in Hong Kong, marked Union Investment's expansion into Asia. Together with the R+V Versicherung insurance company, Union Investment launched VR-RürupRente, a new fund-linked pension insurance scheme. UniProfiAnlage, a new type of fund solution for asset allocation, combines funds of funds, guarantee funds, maturity funds and asset-allocation funds. 2008 The tax-optimised UniOpti4 fund with more than €16 billion in assets under management was the biggest German retail fund. In December, Union Investment acquired all the shares in Union PanAgora, a specialist provider of quantitative investment strategies, from its former co-shareholder PanAgora. The company name was changed to Quoniam Asset Management GmbH. External links * http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Investment * union-investment.de References Category:Investment companies de:Union Investment